OMAHA, Neb. — A judge has blocked a new Nebraska law requiring mental health screenings for women seeking abortions. U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Wednesday granted Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s request for a preliminary injunction against the law, which was supposed to take effect Thursday. The injunction keeps the law from...
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Israeli bulldozers destroyed at least three Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem today, breaking an unofficial moratorium on house demolitions since the end of 2009. At least one of the homes was occupied by a family of seven, who removed their belongings shortly before the building was razed. “They can build hundreds of settlements but...
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MADRID – Seven former political prisoners from Cuba smiled and gave victory signs Tuesday after they and their families were flown to freedom in Madrid, the first of 52 dissidents the Cuban government has promised to free in a historic policy shift. In an action once deemed unthinkable, Cuba agreed last week to liberate all those still...
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There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly. It must now be ratified by the Senate in September to become law. The ban has strong public support but critics point out that only a tiny minority of French Muslims wear the full veil. Many of the opposition Socialists,...
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Madrid, Spain  – Spain’s foreign minister has agreed to take in the 52 Cuban political prisoners who are set for release, Spanish diplomatic sources said Thursday. Five will go to Spain immediately and the 47 others will arrive in three or four months, the sources said. Cuba’s Roman Catholic church announced Wednesday that the...
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Attention is focused on the federal government’s decision to challenge Arizona’s strict anti-immigration law, but three other states could pass similar legislation next year. Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah have each taken steps against illegal immigration, and politicians in the three states are advocating further measures when their legislatures reconvene early next year. The...
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Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer yesterday joined the chorus of GOP lawmakers decrying the Obama administration’s lawsuit against her state’s controversial immigration law, insisting that the law is constitutional and will prevail in court. The Justice Department yesterday filed suit against Arizona’s law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally,...
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The Church of England’s governing General Synod will resume its debate about permitting female bishops this weekend as it continues trying to mollify conservatives who fought against making women priests and now resist what appears to be general support for women as bishops. Anglican agonizing over sexuality has dogged Williams since 2002 when he...
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BAGHDAD — An Army intelligence analyst has been charged in connection with the leak of a controversial video of a U.S. helicopter strike and the transfer of classified State Department cables, the military said Tuesday. Pfc. Bradley Manning, 22, was detained in Kuwait in mid-May after Wikileaks, a whistleblower Web site, released the video,...
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STOCKHOLM – A Swedish feminist party has burned 100,000 Swedish kronor ($13,000) at a barbecue in a protest against unequal pay for men and women. The Feminist Initiative party says the money set ablaze on the Swedish island of Gotland on Tuesday represents the amount of money the country’s women miss out on every...
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